Alone in the world?

Perhaps, you have been sacked. This after working faithfully for your boss for the last 11 years. Maybe, you are yet to get a job after graduating from college three years ago. Or you have a sick child and no one to turn to… Such was the story of Horatio B. Spafford, giving us the classic gospel tune ‘When Peace Like a River’… better known as ‘It is well with my soul.’

But have you ever wondered why God would have you so afflicted? Perhaps, He wants you to acquire humility before blessing you to be an important person in society. Like that time your landlord locked you out of the house because of rent arrears, He wants you to be an empathetic landlord when it is your turn to be so. And so, in times of sorrows, and times of bounty, you sing of Him:

Ukawa baba yangu, ukawa mama yangu
Ukanirithisha, jamii la mapendo
Ukanibariki, ukaniinua
Sasa ni mtu, mbele ya wenza.

(You were my father, you were my mother
From you I inherited a family of love
You blessed and uplifted me
Now, I am someone in the eyes of my peers.)

In heaven, the angels join you in refrain:

Elohi tembea, tembea nami
Usiku wa kiza, tembea nami
Jua kucha-kutwa, tembea nami
Nikiwa nayo pumzi, tembea nami.

(Elohim walk with me
In the dark of night, walk with me
As the sun shines and sets, walk with me
As long as I have breath in me, walk with me).

Comments

Kenya Innovation Week 2023, Commonwealth Edition: Start-up Manenos

The dates: 27 th November-1 st December 2023. The venue. The Edge Convention Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. Sweet things first. Innovators get to walk away with 500K each, in shillings. 47 of them, from all the 47 counties… on Jamhuri Day, 5 of them get to walk away with… that’s for the President H.E. William Ruto to announce. The funding is to enable them take their innovations to market and build viable businesses out of the same. PIA – The Presidential Innovation Awards, the president is that serious. The Start-up sessions are a serious affair, the titles a mouthful, the colon abused: (Session: Founder Stories: An Exclusive Interview with Leading High Growth Start-ups: Learning, Pivoting and Critical Decisions during and Unprecedented Accelerated Business Growth). Ok, some of the lessons when scaling up: Ask for help; Believe in yourself; Resilience; Change of Mind-set. What’s the share of Bill Gates in Microsoft? We are asked. We throw figures around: 30, 90, 50… the percentages…

A Short Run

There is a shout. Startled, he looks back. Now, his phone is gone. He was out jogging, phone held in the hand, the beat synchronised to his strides. The boys, really young, three of them on a motorbike, laced in silver – rings and teeth. ‘Typical,’ he thinks. It rains. Heavily. The El Nino rains – on and off. He hurries home in the downpour, drenched. He is among a few lonely souls on the almost deserted stretch of road, poorly light. There is a soft honk. A lovely smile beams at him. Could be his daughter. He hops in. That’s how he is unrobed – Mpesa, Fuliza, two banks accounts linked to his smartphone. He will no longer be doing mobile banking. Christmas is here, Nairobi style. He takes a detour off his Christmas tunes – Boney M to Elvis. Before that, that kingly tune set in Chicago… ‘… on a cold and grey Chicago morn… and his momma cries…’ On the second alley, music blares – reggae, rhumba - young men with bowls, begging to bury their friends, their comrades. A few pairs of sh

ENRICH in Africa: Connecting African and European Innovation Ecosystems for a Stronger Innovation Community

Venue, iHub, Nairobi. Date. 8 th December 2023. Co-creation and Collaboration Opportunities for African and Europeans Startups : Featuring a European Startup Showcase. After the event, snacks will be served as businesses network. But before that… Wanjiru Githuku, iHub, moderates. Panellists include: Aidah Ng’ang’a – Head of Community and Ecosystem Co-Creation Hub; Basil Malaki – Knowledge Transfer Manager, Innovate UK; Somet Kipchilat – Head of Product, Poa Internet; Jente Rosseel – Founder and CEO, Elewa; Christine Namara – Partner, African Seed Fund, Flat6Labs; and, Brandon Opondo, Trade Advisor, Business France. Collaboration… organisations working together towards a common goal. That collaboration is survival, more so, currently when funding is diminishing…. What value do both partners offer? Can they find two problems that solve each other and go forward together? What informs collaboration/co-creation? Research, data… Venture Capital… good for tech start-ups that can sca

Upya Fresh

Search This Blog